1. Image analysis in posttreatment non-small cell lung cancer surveillance: specialists’ interpretations reviewed by the thoracic multidisciplinary tumor board
- Author
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Roland Zweifel, Bettina Boerner, Juerg Heuberger, Andres Spirig, Gabrielo M. Tini, Wolf-Dieter Janthur, Lukas D. Frey, Franco Gambazzi, Matthias Bruehlmeier, Sarosh Irani, and Richard Williams
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lcsh:RC705-779 ,Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine ,medicine.medical_specialty ,business.industry ,Agreement on imaging ,Concordance ,Posttreatment lung cancer surveillance ,Cancer ,lcsh:Diseases of the respiratory system ,030204 cardiovascular system & hematology ,medicine.disease ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Multidisciplinary tumor board ,Cardiothoracic surgery ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Post-hoc analysis ,Medicine ,Tumor board ,Radiology ,Non small cell ,Original Research Article ,business ,Prospective cohort study ,Lung cancer - Abstract
Background: Data show that the initial specialist’s image interpretation and final multidisciplinary tumor board (MTB) assessment can vary substantially in the pretherapeutic cancer setting. The aim of this post hoc analysis was to investigate the concordance of the specialist’s and MTB’s image interpretations in patients undergoing systematic posttreatment lung cancer image surveillance. Methods: In the initial prospective study, lung cancer patients who had received curative-intent treatment were randomly assigned to undergo either contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) or integrated 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT). Imaging was performed every 6months for 2 years, and all imaging studies were finally assessed by our MTB. This post hoc analysis assessed differences between the initial specialist’s image interpretation and the final MTB’s image interpretation. Results: In 89 patients, 266 imaging studies (129 PET-CT, 137 CE-CT) were analyzed. In 87.2% (88.4, 86.1%) of the studies, complete concordance was found. Out of the 12.8% (11.6, 13.9%) with discordant results, 7.5% (6.9, 8.0%) had implications for alterations in patient management (major disagreements). Twenty major disagreements were detected in 17 study patients. Retrospectively, in eight out of these 17 (47%) patients, in contrast to the MTB’s view, the specialist’s interpretation was more appropriate, whereas in nine out of 17 patients (53%), the MTB’s interpretation was more accurate. Conclusions: In an experienced MTB, the agreement between imaging specialists and the rest of the MTB with regard to the interpretation of images is high in a setting of posttreatment lung cancer image surveillance. It seems that in cases of disagreements, the rates of more accurate interpretation are well balanced between imaging specialists and the MTB. Trial registration: ISRCTN16281786, Date 23. February 2017.
- Published
- 2019
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